


Beginnings

by schweinsty



Category: The Purge (Movies), the purge: election year
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-28
Updated: 2016-09-28
Packaged: 2018-08-18 07:47:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8154577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/schweinsty/pseuds/schweinsty
Summary: After Purge Night, Charlie and Leo find their footing.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Written for a prompt on comment-fic over on livejournal.

It sounds ridiculous to say that someone waits to pass out, but that so obviously what Leo does that Charlie almost finds herself at a loss. He gets her out of the church, off the streets, and safe into the hands of a security company run by an old army buddy of his before he let go of her arm and leans up against the wall.

"I'm just gonna rest for a second," he says. “Jus' got a little banged up."

He lets out a breath, shuts his eyes, and keels over.

The sort of an insurance that comes with a job working security on Purge Night gets him a private room, even when all the hospitals in the area are packed. Charlie has a little twinge of her conscience when she thinks about him waking up and realizing someone lost valuable bed space so he could have privacy, but she squashes it. He pissed off a hell of a lot of powerful people last night saving her, and she's not satisfied until he's stable in a bed with round-the-clock guards posted outside his room.

She can't afford to stay at his side like she'd like to; there is a metric shit ton of work to be done if she wants to win this thing, and she can't do it sitting next to a hospital bed.

She does visit, though. Pops in the first night for five minutes and watches him sleep, chest rising and falling steadily. She has events scheduled over the next couple days up in New England: a town hall in New York and a rally in Philadelphia. She misses Leo's presence while she is on the stage. The security she's hired is good, every man ex-special forces with a long, long list of black belts and qualifications after their names, but she can't shake the nagging worry that something's going to happen. Funny. Leo's been working for her for less than a year, but she's come to trust him and rely on him in a way she never expected.

She calls the hospital a couple times to check in on him. The second time, the nurses say he woke up and should be well enough to be released in a day or two, but they've discovered that the building his apartments was in burned down on Purge Night. Charlie can't offer him a room in her house, but she arranges a room for him at a hotel, with security, whenever he gets out.

She is told that the use of cell phones isn't allowed in the hospital rooms, but she gets a text message saying _thanks, but it's not necessary_ shortly afterwards.

 _It's next to mine,_ she texts back. _I want you ready to run my team again as soon as you're well._

She doesn't receive a reply, but she doesn't read too much into it. Leo's not shy about objecting to anything he doesn't like, and according to the head nurse he still needs a lot of rest.

After Philadelphia she flies to Florida, and she's there several days. The kid wasn't wrong; she'll need to win it if she wants to win the country. She stays there three days, holds events from Freeport all the way down to Everglades City. After Florida it's North Carolina, then Georgia, which might be in play this year. She's only there for half a day. Then it's out west, working her way down from Washington to California.

Leo joins her in San Diego. She walks off the stage at her rally, and all of a sudden he's just there.

"You sure you're up for this?"

He cracks a grin out one side of his mouth, quick enough you only see it if you're looking. "Wouldn't be here if I weren't, Ma'am.”

“Charlie,” she says. She doesn't say that Ma'am is ridiculous after what they went through.

He nods his head and doesn't say anything about optics or the chain of command.

There's a lot he says, she's coming to know, when he doesn't say anything.

She invites him to join her at the hotel bar that evening. Coke and nothing for him, neat Scotch for her. They sit in a booth, away from the crowd, and ignore the deliberately inconspicuous security detail that take up post nearby.

“I heard you checked up on me,” Leo says.

Charlie shrugs. “I didn't mean to overstep.”

“You didn't.” He clears his throat. “You got any family?”

He knows the answer. Everyone does. “I have a cousin, Mary. She's down in New Orleans. You?”

“Couple brothers. A lot of cousins.” He shrugs. “No one close, though.”

“Yeah.” She slides her thumb around the rim of her glass. “No one close. If I get elected, when the Purge is over...”

She doesn't finish the thought. It has too many possible endings to put into words, and there's no rush. They've neither of them touched their drinks, and when they stand, their hands touch each other, warm and brief.

There's no rush.

They head out, up to their rooms. Leo quietly gives out orders and tells someone he wants to meet with him to coordinate tomorrow's security, and she glances at him now and then and wonders if he's favoring his left shoulder.


End file.
